Great Gift Ideas 2011…..part 3

You’re probably well into your holiday shopping by now. However, if you are still searching for gift ideas for a few curious kids, here are some toddler and preschool-tested ideas.

Pacific Play Tents Super Duper 4 Kid Tent: Santa left us this play tent (retail $30) last year. It’s very durable and super easy to set up and take down. There are multiple ways for the kids to get in and out, and it is large enough to fit a grown up or two. My husband and I frequently get roped into a game of Apollo 11 in which one of us gets to play Michael Collins to the boys’ Aldrin/Armstrong. This tent also works well for indoor picnics in the winter. Play tents are great for all sorts of imaginative play!

Very Silly Sentences

Very Silly Sentences (by DK Publishing): We received this game for Cooper’s 4th birthday. He wasn’t reading quite yet, so I put it away for several months. However, when he started to read, this game proved to be a fun way to practice. What preschooler doesn’t love silly jokes and ridiculous sentences? “The shiny teacher stands under the grumpy zebra?” Hilarious! Through this game, children can practice reading skills. However, they also learn basic sentence structure, as well as parts of speech. My five-year-old already knows his way around articles and a prepositions. We give this game two thumbs up!

Giant Melissa and Doug Floor Puzzles: Melissa and Doug make the best puzzles, hands down. One of my all-time favorites is the 4-foot fire truck floor puzzle ($12). This was a present for Cooper’s 3rd birthday, and he was able to put it together with a little help. It has 24 large pieces, so it’s pretty easy. We also have the 10-foot Alphabet Train (28 pieces) and Dinosaurs puzzles (48 pieces). I would recommend Dinosaurs for 4+ years, since it has nearly twice as many pieces as the other two.